Cops: Busy burglars stole gold to buy heroin

Philly Confidential

They were heroin addicts who broke into houses and stole gold jewelry to sell for drug money. And they were surprisingly prolific burglars, responsible for more than 40 burglaries in Bucks County last year.

But Wednesday, Bensalem stopped their spree with the arrest of Anthony Fanaro, 32, of Levittown, the last of eight alleged burglars involved in the ring and one of its alleged masterminds. Fanaro was charged with 26 counts of burglary, theft and related offenses and jailed on $1 million bail. Detectives from several Bucks County communities spent a year investigating the ring, in which thugs broke into unoccupied homes, stole gold jewelry and then pawned it at "cash-for-gold" stores in and around Philadelphia, police said.

"This burglary ring was mostly comprised of heroin addicts who were fueling their addictions, with the proceeds from the burglaries," a police statement said.